QACI Creation Story
This is our creation story. The white concentric circles in the centre of our mural represent the heart of QACI’s community. Surrounding these circles are four arcs that signify the people seated within our community. Extending from the circles are leaves and branches to express how we learn, grow and evolve while here in order to strengthen our knowledge.
Our QACI community is a diverse and inclusive place made up of different cultures, backgrounds and perspectives. To show our diversity, radiating out from the centre of the mural are twelve handprints made by students, staff and parents in rainbow colours. This rainbow is further extended by our beautiful rainbow serpent who wraps itself around the handprints to symbolise our creation.
The blue of the Brisbane River is made from artists’ handprints and flows horizontally across the centre of the mural. The left side of the river depicts the journey that students make to get to QACI while the right side represents the Turrbal and Jagera peoples, the traditional custodians of the land on which our community gathers. Above and below the river are green waves made of individual fingerprints.
Our QACI culture is represented by The Sense of the Goose story and our three houses. The house colours are visible throughout the mural: green for Éveiller, red for Matjiin, and yellow for Vivezza. At the heart of QACI’s culture is the Sense of the Goose story and students are familiar with the motto of flying in v-formation. When we fly in v-formation, we support each other during our QACI journey. The v-formation can be seen above and below the green waves and the white and yellow marks signify the importance of this culture to our community.
The final element of the creation story is the kangaroo. The kangaroo has left a trail of bold, deep red footprints through the centre of the mural. Like the kangaroo, while our past students leave QACI, their presence in our community lives on.
This mural was designed by Indigenous artist, Silvia Jones-Terare, in consultation with Indigenous Elders and our QACI community. Students, staff and family members worked with Silvia to paint the QACI Creation Story in 2020.
Team Wardu
Collaborative Student Project
In March 2023 21 QACI students (Team Wardu) from Year 10 - 12 traveled to Port Lincoln, Adelaide before heading to the self-sustained Scotdesco Indigenous community campsite, where they were immersed in an 8-day cultural experience with the traditional landowners.
Students were invited to discover how to identify bush tucker, ancestral plants for the use of medicine and how to determine which plants could indicate fresh water underneath. They participated in agricultural project work where students learned about the impact of community agricultural practices and the subsequent environmental impact, and were then introduced to the environmental project work to re-stock and provide remedial solutions for the land.
Students worked alongside members of the Wirangu Tribe to appreciate and learn some of the indigenous language of the tribe. The culmination of the 8-day journey resulted in a collaborated artwork with students working alongside the members of the Wirangu Tribe. Students were shown the indigenous symbols and their meanings to create this finished collaborative artwork.